Cautionary Tale - Wound Care

[Metamorphic]

So, 15 days ago, I get a little low pressure on my tubeless setup, burped the front and went down. Skinned up my elbow. Not even really anything dramatic. 1/2 dollar sized abrasion, not that deep. Rinsed it off with some camelback water and got on down the trail after putting the bike back in order. Cleaned the wound in the shower at home, smeared on some neosporin and a band aid. Typical right.

About 5 days ago my elbow started getting sore, hot to the touch, and limited range of motion.

Turns out I got some kind of bursa infection through that wound. Elbow and forearm swelled up with fluid. Arm mostly useless. Painful with no comfortable position. Super painful when bumped.

Two trips to the Dr. so far and I'm on my second more powerful antibiotic trying to get over on this thing.

I'm thinking I'm going to add a bottle of betadine and an irrigation syringe to my camelbak first aid kit. Its kind of a heavy first aid item but I think it could have saved me a lot of grief and a couple weeks (so far) of time off the bike.

[Metamorphic]

Update:

Finished the antibiotics. Elbow is a little better but still very sore, still limited range of motion. I'll have to be contacting the Dr. to see what Plan C is.

Betadine is in the pack, and new POC elbow pads and knee pads are waiting for their first outing.

[Bill in Houston]

ugh, i bumped my elbow once, didn't even scrape it, and ended up with bursitis. that was miserable. i hope you feel better soon.

[Metamorphic]

One week past the end of the antibiotics. There is still some residual stiffness and and pressure sensitivity, but its 90% better.

One word of warning. The antibiotic they gave me is called Leviquin. It has some pretty heavy duty side affects. The most notable is tendon rupture. Apparently this stuff is very hard on the tendons and can produce tendonitis. I had some of these affects. For instance, after a ride my wrists and hand would ache badly for about a couple days. That problem is just starting to go away.

I think I'd ask for an alternative before I'd allow them to give me that drug again.

Levaquin Side Effects » Side Effects

[Dirty $anchez]

Thanks for the informative posts. Glad to see your healing well.